Trading cards are flat, usually rectangular pieces of pasteboard, cardboard, or plastic that are ornamented with pictures and statistics of famous sports figures. An individual may choose to obtain cards to determine the statistics of a sports player. Another may collect cards of athletes or sports teams as a hobby. Others may collect cards for the purposes of financial gain wherein their expertise lies in an ability to purchase an undervalued sports card for resale at a profit. The cards may acquire their economic value due to the rarity of a particular card in relation to the sport's figure whose picture and statistics are depicted on the card. Despite the nature of collecting, a true hobbyist or collector may have a sizeable amount of trading cards representing a large sentimental or monetary investment.
In many aspects the trading of cards resembles trading stock as the purchaser needs to speculate as to the worth of a particular card. If a purchase is performed in a timely manner the result may realize a profit. Unlike stock, the value of trading cards is dependent upon the condition in which the card is maintained. A card that is torn, frayed, or otherwise damaged may have minimal value whereas an identical card in good condition may be a valuable commodity.
One of the problems with collecting trading cards is the necessity of proper storage to optimize resale value. It is not unheard of for a valuable card collection to be stored in shoe boxes. The shoe boxes may be stacked on top of each other providing a certain amount of rigidity but should a person accidentally place a weight against the box the contents therein may be easily damaged. Further, the stacking of shoe boxes requires a uniformity which is difficult to obtain as an average household may have a diverse assortment of shoe box sizes, even if acquired by the same person. This problem is further complicated if trading cards are placed in plastic sleeves. The sleeves which are designed to protect forces the cards to stand out, exposing them to damage.
A number of baseball card protectors and carrying cases in the prior art all attempt to maintain the integrity of the trading card during storage. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,015 discloses a card holder and carrying case for trading cards having individual thermo plastic crystal polystyrene holders in which a single trading card is placed. Each holder has a lower portion available for a snap fit engagement to a base allowing for the viewing of the trading cards without the possibility of bending or folding the cards. A disadvantage to this invention is the space consumption necessitated by having each card individually protected and the necessity of a holder base with spaced apart connecting receptacles. No provision is made with the device allowing for the stackability of multiple containers. In addition, the cost for a young hobbyist may be exorbitant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,041 discloses a storage container for sports cards having a slidable insert which fits into a rigid external enclosure. While the housing has sufficient rigidity so as to allow stacking, there are no provisions made for stable stacking of such enclosures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,175 sets forth a combination sorter box and display tray fabricated from cardboard. This device provides a low cost holding tray with sequential sorting compartments. The rigidity of the device is compromised by the cardboard structure which assimilates a shoe box.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,688 discloses a storage device having removable dividers arranged to allow for adjustable spacing between each divider. Unique to this invention is the tongue and groove coupling which allows like storage containers to be coupled in an adjacent manner, however, no provisions are made for stable stacking of the devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,145 discloses a trading card holder constructed from a transparent material which operates as a viewing container in the form of a binder. This device does not accommodate large quantities of cards and the stackability depends upon the amount of cards placed within each binder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,001 discloses a protective case for sports cards which is directed to the storage of a single card within the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,566 discloses a baseball card storage and display device which allows for the multiple storage of cards within a binder type setting wherein the cards are placed within the transparent piece of plastic having a releasable locking mechanism to securely store the cards within the holder.
Thus, what is needed in the art is a card storage and display case capable of storing thousands of cards in a safe and secure manner as well as providing provisions for display and further having an ability to store various size cards such as those placed within protective holders as well as cards within a shipping box in a separate compartment concealed from viewing. It is further desired to provide a storage container having provisions for stacking in a stable and secure manner.